Snake

It's funny the 2000 and 2001 teams are brought up here, because their predecessors that were "supposed" to win it all ('98 and '99) never even made the Frozen Four.

Actually, it was 2000....we "choked" in the title game in 2001, remember?

I'm confused why some people even bother to follow this team if all they do is disappoint them.

via UND Men's Hockey on Twitter:

I think we all wonder "how are we going to replace the scoring from player X" every off-season; but more often than not things seem to work themselves out and there's always players ready to step into those primary roles. I'd say we were really asking this question after the '10-'11 season, but lo and behold...Knight, Kristo, and Nelson stepped up. We usually don't fill it in with incoming Freshmen...look for some of the current Sophomore class to fill the scoring void more consistently.

Play a full 60 minutes and good things will happen. I won't say 120 minutes because we need to take it one game at a time. In fact, just do the right things, make the smart plays, and compete at a high level every shift and things will take care of themselves.

I know...I hardly follow the game, so just jabbing a little. Forgot the appropriate emoticon, etc!

Clearly Indiana isn't the #1 team in the country.

Hard to say...not exactly a lot of 5x5 play to evaluate the lower line combos. I'll take the same special teams setup, though!

I believe if QU were to finish #1 overall, a "pure" bracket would place them with #8, #9, and #16.

Does the B1G allow beer sales at their basketball tourney? That would be the precedent to look at. If so, I'm guessing the hockey tourney will follow suit.

DTV had it from the start.

Game's not over quite yet scpa0305!

Another passive PK

Why even go through the trouble of planning road trips at all if you'll only be happy with wins? Sounds like it would just be a waste of time and money for you regardless. News flash: it's tough to win on the road in the WCHA. Road trips are the best, win or lose.

Dangling at the blue line more often than not leads to offsides. It's too bad, but the right call.

I see I'm a bit slow this morning!

Any thoughts on starter tonight in goal? Did Saunders stabilize things enough to warrant a start tonight? I'm not sure. Aside from goal number 3 last night I thought Zane was good, especially on the PK. He was dealing with an awful lot of traffic in his crease and I thought he handled a lot of "in tight" situations pretty well in the 1st period. First two goals against we're tough ones. Third was an obvious mental lapse that can't happen. Does Hak give him a crack at redeeming himself tonight?

I agree. I thought the PK was particularly deficient, obviously with the goals against, but that aside it looked like they were not doing anything to get in the passing lanes when DU would get it set up. There was a lot of running around and screening the goalie which is a recipe for giving up goals. Hopefully the same pattern from the series in GF applies here - Olki steals one Friday and then we dominate on Saturday!

I believe Saturday is on Root Sports Rocky Mountain for those of us with the DirecTV sports pack.

For the record, I would prefer a full conference schedule too. I'm OK with having the Omaha trip on the schedule every year - it's a fun one. Of course, Duluth is an excellent trip as well. I could handle either one on a yearly basis. I'm just darn happy we're done with guaranteed road trips to St. Cloud every year!

Ok...but Miami and Western are on the home schedule. The rivalry with Denver is already established. How is having Miami and Western on the home schedule hot helping us develop rivalries with the new teams in the conference? Miami and Western at this point stand to be two of the better teams in the conference based on how they've fared in recent history. I'm kind of excited to see these teams, actually.

I know it's fun to speculate, but what's wrong with the WCHA rolling with things as they have them laid out and then adapting as they collect the data? To me it seems they at least have a reasonable plan to kick off the new era of the conference.

^ I agree on Kristo. Coming in to UND there were a lot of questions about whether or not he was the type of player that fits the UND mold...well, I think he's proven it over the last couple years. He brings it. Consider me a fan of the kid.

Does anyone know if they keep track of any stats regarding "chances converted" or something like that? It's tough for me to say a guy lacks the consistent ability to finish his chances without knowing what his percentage is and how it compares to the rest of the league. Back in '87 I'm sure chances were converted on a higher rate simply because the goalies and team defenses weren't as stout as they are today. It's extremely difficult to compare eras based on the numbers.